Puffin class
Notes The Puffin class was a small/medium fighter operated by the Starfleet of the United Federation of Planets during the early years of the 23rd century, entering service in 2203. The Puffin was the most advanced M/AM fuel cell warp capable fighter of its day with the following internal arrangement from front to rear of the very sleek shaped ‘fish' or ‘penguin' shaped hull: Description The front half of the hull was more heavily armored (and thus a thicker hull) than the rear half. This protected the vital cockpit area from direct frontal attack. Various other shapes like the nacelle, impulse drives, laser cannon blisters, and fins were attached to the main hull shape and were not heavily armored. The rear of the fighter was protected from attack only by the shields and the fighters superior speed and maneuverability. The nose cone contained the forward sensors with the central point of the dish sticking outside the ship. Behind that the structural support and utility transfer core began which, although it changed shape as it went, ran all the way to the tail cone. Behind the forward sensors around the core was misc. support systems space. Above this the forward impulse thrust drive was attached to the outside of the ship. A utility space ran from the forward central core up to the front part of the drive to provide power to it. The entire drive unit could swivel port and starboard through a large an arc. Maneuvering fins inside the exhaust outlet could direct the thrust very slightly up and down. Next was the tokamak fusion reactor which powered the laser cannons and impulse drives. The engine was oriented standing on its edge perpendicular to the main axis if the ship. The central core went around the engine on port and starboard and rejoined immediately aft of the engine. The cockpit and main computer were next above the central core. The crew accessed through an overhead hatch. The cockpit did not eject, but the crew wore spacesuits while aboard and left out the hatch if absolutely necessary. The crew sat three across. The main computer was contained in the instrument panel in front of and on either side of the crew seats. Armored view ports and the external indents for them for port and starboard seats extended to just above the fusion engine. The view ports were actually a backup means to see outside. Mostly the crew looked at their tactical and visual displays. On either side at the rear of the cockpit were small equipment lockers. Outside the main oval, just where the fusion engine ended, the laser cannon blisters started. Utility transfer spaces on the extreme port and starboard just below the cockpit ran to the laser cannons to provide power. Below the cockpit the warp nacelle started centrally and on either side were misc. support system spaces. Behind the cockpit was the missile hold which contained 20 mini missiles and two launchers. The missiles were not stored in a rotary drum as mentioned by Masao online but rather in stacked clips in an upside down ‘V' shape. Small indents in the external hull which ran outside the hull along the cockpit marked where the missiles exited. Beneath that the warp nacelle and misc. support system spaces continued. The laser cannon blisters and misc. support system spaces ended at the rear edge of the missile hold. Next, above the utility transfer space were the six M/AM warp fuel cells. These were in three rows across by two long. Three access panels on the top of the ship provided external access for each row. These fed through the utility transfer space which was expanded in cross section due to the increased amount of conduits it carried to the warp nacelle still running along the belly of the ship. The warp nacelle had extra equipment attached in a small blister on the bottom where the plasma from the fuel cells was fed into it. Port and starboard of the fuel cells were shallow bays for the landing legs. The belly of the ship was now rising up so that the central utility core was resting along the belly. The warp nacelle extended in a straight line outside the main contour of the ship. Just aft of the fuel cells, the port and starboard impulse drive units were attached. The entire units could swivel up and down through a large an arc. Maneuvering fins inside the exhaust outlet could direct the thrust very slightly port and starboard. This, combined with the nose drive unit which could swivel in opposite directions as the rear units provided exceptional thrust and maneuverability. Just aft of the fuel cells along the belly of the ship the utility transfer core had arms that went out to feed the rear port and starboard impulse drives. After this, the utility transfer space reduced to a narrow cross section since it no longer had to carry many conduits. Just aft of the M/AM fuel cells above the now narrow utility core was the deuterium storage tank. Above most of the deuterium tank was the deflector sail. This could be used in place of a navigational deflector dish in small ships. The narrow utility core ran up the remainder of the ship's belly under the deuterium tank to the rear nose cone which contained aft and lateral sensors. It also connected to the rear of the deflector fin. Starfleet Museum entry for Puffin Fighter Ship stats and specs *Subspace efficiency: 175% *Propulsion efficiency: 800% *Amount of deuterium: 10 M3, 2 MT *LY range: << 1 LY *Months of deuterium: NA, has M/AM fuel cells for warp *Warp engine size/type: 6 M/AM 56K fuel cells, 9 M3, fusion tokamak for impulse only *Displacement: 435 t *Overall length: 19.40 m *Beam: 7.05 m *Draft: 6.24 m *Crew: 3 *Weapons: 20 "Hothead" fusion missiles; 2 laser cannons *Velocity (Cochrane Scale): Warp 4.5, standard; Warp 5.6, maximum *Units built: 503 Rweferences Category:Star Trek Category:Federation Category:FTL Fighters